New cue

[Rhodri m]

Im currently looking for a new cue and was wondering which cue maker to go for?

I now have a custom made peradon 3/4 wich is 60" long and weighs 19oz but i cannot get on with it and it also looks plain.
I was told i needed 60" because i am 6ft3

Now im after a 1 piece cue around 58.5", 18oz, ash shaft, hand spliced ebony butt with some vernier and decorative wood
any help and information much appreciated

[Ninja.cues]

Hi,

There are lots of makers on here that can give you just what your looking for.
Me being one of them...

[tony9ball68]

Most people on here would recommend adr147 on here or Stu at greenbaize, including me. Both are excellent with a decent choice of cues

[Alex Gara]

Im currently looking for a new cue and was wondering which cue maker to go for?

I now have a custom made peradon 3/4 wich is 60" long and weighs 19oz but i cannot get on with it and it also looks plain.
I was told i needed 60" because i am 6ft3

Now im after a 1 piece cue around 58.5", 18oz, ash shaft, hand spliced ebony butt with some vernier and decorative wood
any help and information much appreciated

60' is quite a long cue, a lot of cue makers will say that making a cue at 60" is very difficult. I'm not saying that it is hard to make that length just that it is hard to make a really good playing cue at that length. I asked j6 to make me a cue at 59" as I always wanted to try a longer cue, and I have to say that I love the cue he made me, but it could well be the case that it would play better at 58 1/2 or even 58 1/4.
I'm not saying that a 60" cue won't suit you just that you should think long and hard at if it is really necessary to go that long. i am 6'4" and find that my hand is right on the end of the butt for most shots, even on my 59" cue, so the way the cue is rounded on the butt is quite important to feel for me also.
As I have been playing around at making cues recently, one cue I left at 61" just for fun and had a few games with it, it was great to have my hand an inch or two from the end and can't remember since I was a child having that feeling. Still that cue is now at 58 1/4 and plays much better.
So I am just saying that you should really think about wether you need a cue at 60", you have already tried one and it looks like you don't like it, but that may or may not be to do with the length. 19oz is also quite heavy and that may be a factor as well.
Anyway the most important thing is to like the cue you play with, and that also includes looks. After that it is just a matter sticking with the cue and over time it will feel better and better as you get to know the feel of it and how it plays.

[Rhodri m]

Great advice alex,
I'm thinking of going for a 58.5 length this time and around 18oz.
Just struggling to find a design that i like.
Only one that is catching my eye is this 1 by Jason owen

[j6uk]

I'm 6'4 and my last cue was 57" https://youtu.be/3b1ijQdMX2k. as you see my setup is very compact.
i know a longer cue should better for me and give me more room. but anything over 59 would be too long, not so much because of the cue structure, unnecessary technically

[vmax4steve]

I disagree with j6, why force yourself to be compact when you can go longer than standard and have the same set up as someone who's five foot ten and doesn't have to make compromises with stance and bending of the bridge arm to give enough cue over the thumb for for a decent length backswing and good sighting.
I have made a 60 & 1/2 inch one piece with ash shaft and amargo butt and I tapered it from the 57 inch mark and it plays great, my own cue is 61 & 1/2 inches long and tapered from the end and it also plays great.
There are many 57 to 58 inch cues around that don't play very well as the timber used is of a quality not suited for a cue, maybe the op's 60 inch cue falls into that category.

I also recently modified an old machine spliced two piece for a bloke I work with who's only five foot three , I cut it down to 53 inches, re-tapered and balanced it to suit his height and he told me he loves it and is playing better than he ever did before.
Measure the distance from the point of your shoulder to the floor and that's about the ideal length your cue should be. If you've played well for years with something shorter or longer than that then fine, but if you struggle then going longer or shorter is worth a try.

[Ninja.cues]

I disagree with j6, why force yourself to be compact when you can go longer than standard and have the same set up as someone who's five foot ten and doesn't have to make compromises with stance and bending of the bridge arm to give enough cue over the thumb for for a decent length backswing and good sighting.
I have made a 60 & 1/2 inch one piece with ash shaft and amargo butt and I tapered it from the 57 inch mark and it plays great, my own cue is 61 & 1/2 inches long and tapered from the end and it also plays great.
There are many 57 to 58 inch cues around that don't play very well as the timber used is of a quality not suited for a cue, maybe the op's 60 inch cue falls into that category.

I also recently modified an old machine spliced two piece for a bloke I work with who's only five foot three , I cut it down to 53 inches, re-tapered and balanced it to suit his height and he told me he loves it and is playing better than he ever did before.
Measure the distance from the point of your shoulder to the floor and that's about the ideal length your cue should be. If you've played well for years with something shorter or longer than that then fine, but if you struggle then going longer or shorter is worth a try.

I also think there are ways around keeping a longer cue playing well.
Not making the taper from butt to tip straight, giving the cue a little curve along the length would help with this and some cues are made this way anyway.

[DeanH]

Not making the taper from butt to tip straight, giving the cue a little curve along the length would help with this and some cues are made this way anyway.

Have heard this called "Professional taper".
The old Mannock "anti-grip" cue had a patented taper similar to what you describe where the first 12-18" from the tip was very nearly equal diameter before the main taper started.

[jonny66]

Have heard this called "Professional taper".
The old Mannock "anti-grip" cue had a patented taper similar to what you describe where the first 12-18" from the tip was very nearly equal diameter before the main taper started.

I think professional taper is a US pool cue term, where the part that slides through your bridge is all the same diameter, not sure if it'd work on a snooker cue though, with them being much thinner, would that cause a problem?

[Ninja.cues]

Have heard this called "Professional taper".
The old Mannock "anti-grip" cue had a patented taper similar to what you describe where the first 12-18" from the tip was very nearly equal diameter before the main taper started.

Have seen that with cues but have found it makes for a very whippy cue...
I'm talking more like leaving it a little thicker at ¾ round about, so that it is a little thicker at the front of the cue so you don't have that problem of it being too thin at the tip end.

[vmax4steve]

Have seen that with cues but have found it makes for a very whippy cue...
I'm talking more like leaving it a little thicker at ¾ round about, so that it is a little thicker at the front of the cue so you don't have that problem of it being too thin at the tip end.

I used to play UK 8 ball with an old machine spliced ash one piece billiard cue with no ferrule that had a 10mm pro taper of approx 12inches and I must say it was a great cue. I took it to the snooker table and it didn't suit, but that was because it was too short for me at the standard length. In order to play better snooker I needed to change my stance and straighten my bridge arm to sight the greater distances involved and with that cue it meant I only had four inches of cue over my thumb which gave me a very short backswing with only the forefinger and thumb holding the cue, so I had to go longer.

When making a long cue, to start the taper from the 57/58 inch point and leaving the last three or four inches of the butt (where it's held in the hand) as a 30mm dowell gives the cue this thicker taper that you're suggesting. It's all a question of a taper that gives good feel relative to length and is down mainly to the characteristics of the shaft wood used, a dense piece of ash can have a more slender taper compared to one that isn't.

Looking at John Higgins new cue that he used in the WSC this year it seemed to have quite a thick taper, Trumps new one also is thicker than his old one; maybe this is the way some players are going in modern conditions where side isn't used as often as it used to be and the plain centre ball strike needs to be more solid, I don't know but maybe we cue makers need to get on board with this.